Pepper closed her laptop and she was gathering her things to leave for the day. She was looking forward to a weekend of relaxation when Tony suddenly appeared behind her, scaring her half to death.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked.
"Soon? Tony I have been here till passed seven nearly every night. I'm actually done early tonight and I was thinking of going out" she said.
"That's an excellent idea. Let me change" he said.
"No Tony I want to go out and be away from everyone and everything that reminds me of work" she said.
"Look Pep, all I'm saying is that we should let off some steam and have fun as friends. We're going to spend like four days together next weekend for the wedding and sharing close quarters. I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I think we should spend some non work time together. No work talk, just fun" he said.
Pepper wanted to object badly but she couldn't. She didn't know why all of sudden she loved being around Tony more than ever. She didn't know why suddenly she could see what women have seen for years. He was truly handsome and charming and she got to see the other sides of him that no one knew. His thoughtfulness and generosity.
"I can't go dressed like this," she said.
"So I will change and we will swing by your place and you can change and then we can go and blow off a little steam"
Pepper decided on her favorite pair of Calvin's and an iridescent pink halter with black heels and a leather jacket. She got into the car and smiled at Tony. It was weird looking at him and seeing him as a friend and not her boss but at the same time it wasn't that weird.
They rode in silence and pulled up to Catch L.A. They got out of the car and walked inside. The minute they walked inside women were all over Tony. He grabbed onto Pepper's hand and didn't let go until they were through the first mob. He spoke to the hostess of the restaurant side and she found him a much quieter corner where they took a seat at a high top table.
"I'm going to get us some drinks but when we get back I want to hear all about Lisa and why you're enemies" he said as he headed to the bar.
Pepper watched as a busty blonde got him in her site and she was putting her hands all over him.
How dare she put her hands on him like that? Well this night is a bust. I might as well start looking for a handsome man to occupy my time, she thought completely unaware of her jealousy.
She scanned the room and to her surprise Tony totally ignored the blonde and hurried back with their drinks.
"If you want to go and have fun with that blonde I won't be offended" Pepper said trying to be cool.
"Nope. I'd rather be with you any day" he said as he placed the drinks on the table.
Pepper gave Tony a look and he smirked at her.
"So tell me why is Lisa your enemy?" he asked.
"Because she's a bitch and a mean girl. She competed with me constantly for everything. Grades, boys, popularity, trendy clothes, and extracurricular activities. It was like the school was divided into two tribes. Hers and mine,"
"What about the guy who called you a principal? Whose tribe was he in?"
"Well he and I were friendly but his main group of friends were in her tribe" Pepper explained.
"I would have crossed enemy lines to be with you" he said with a wink.
"It was more than that. I'm not really his type either. As a matter of fact I'm no one's type" she said quietly.
"Actually that's not true because I LOVE redheads"
"Agent Romanoff is one redhead" Pepper challenged him.
"Remind me when we get back to the house to have Jarvis bring up all my school dance pictures" he said as he avoided her eyes.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because all my dates were redheads," he said.
"So you were serious. You really have a thing for redheads" she stated in shock.
"Oh man when I was eighteen and Just The Ten of Us came out I would watch it religiously. Jamie Luner was the subject of many of my self love sessions" he confessed.
"Tony" Pepper said, sounding shocked and horrified.
"Now I'm in trouble for jerking off? I'm a guy I can't help myself. And yes we think about various women" he said.
"No you're not in trouble. I don't judge. I'm just shocked to hear you talk about it with me" she said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. But you don't believe I have a thing for redheads. I wanted to convince you" Tony said, feeling very vulnerable.
"Is that really why you promoted me?" she asked, staring him down.
Pepper had all the power right now.
"Guilty as charged. Why do you think I insisted you take the promotion to my personal assistant? Besides your intelligence and organization and your fearlessness, it was your beauty. I wanted to look at you every day. So don't ever say you're plain or not my type ok" he confessed opening himself up to even more scrutiny from her.
"I-I"
Pepper was flustered and at a loss for words.
"It's ok. You don't have to say anything. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just when you said you were plain and boring it upset me. I wanted you to see you the way I see you"
"How come in all the years I've worked for you and all the women you've been with I've never seen you bring a single redhead home?"
"Not too many natural redheads out there and besides the redheads don't want me back" he said looking away.
Things got silent between them and extremely uncomfortable. They both played with their drinks until Tony had the courage to break the silence.
"So I think maybe we should go over some ground rules and boundaries for this weekend wedding getaway"
"Like what? Since when do you have ground rules?" Pepper asked.
"I don't know. This is your thing. I need to know how and where I'm allowed to touch you. I need to know what's off limits. I need to know how much you want to sell this thing" he said as he scooted his chair in closer to her and he could feel his knees brush against her.
Pepper was stunned. She hadn't even thought about that when she agreed to let him be her date. She did kind of want people to think her and Tony were a thing. She was deep in thought with her eyebrows furrowed when Tony broke the silence again.
"Look I'm sorry Pep I put you on the spot. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable. I want to do this right" he said.
"No you're right. Let's get some fresh air" she suggested.
"Come on. I have friends here. I can get us out a back door"
Tony led Pepper through the bar and into the restaurant and into a private area and straight out a back door.
They headed towards the car and Pepper stopped him.
"This is good," she said.
"Ok so hand holding is ok" she quietly and he grabbed her hands softly in his and it sent a warmth through her body she never felt before. Tony smiled at her.
"May I make some suggestions? I promise I won't do anything inappropriate" he said.
Pepper nodded and never took her eyes off of his.
"If I was somewhere with a date I might hold her like this" he said pulling her extremely close to him and putting a hand on each side of her waist.
Pepper felt desire wash over her.
"Or I might hold her like this," he said, moving his hands to her lower back.
Pepper's skin was like burning embers and she wasn't sure the flame would ever go out. Tony was staring at her waiting for a response.
"Is that ok Pep?" he asked.
Pepper nodded and she didn't know where her courage came from but she had to touch him.
"And if I had a date I might do this" she said wrapping one arm around his waist and placing the other on his ripped abdomen muscles.
She could see the corners of Tony's mouth begin to curl up. She knew he was loving it.
"Or this" she said putting her hands around his neck and playing with the hair at his nape.
"Mmm" he moaned involuntarily.
"You found my spot Pep. I'm very turned on"
"And I might brush your cheek or hold your face like this and kiss your cheek" he said as he cupped her face and leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek gently.
Pepper was hot and she was having a moment of weakness. She was so frustrated with her love life situation and she was so unhappy with herself that she almost didn't care. She was like a half a second away from seducing Tony in his car.
He lifted his head up and kissed her on the forehead.
Pepper reached up for the back of his neck again and kept playing with his hair.
"Now you're doing that on purpose. If you keep doing that I can't guarantee something isn't going to happen down there" Tony said.
Pepper came to her senses and pulled away from him.
"So are we good? Did I make you uncomfortable? I hope not. I really tried to behave" he said.
"Yeah I think it's going to be fine" she said trying to shake off the tingling feeling she had everywhere from Tony's touch.
"May I suggest one more thing?" he asked as he was being pulled in by her gorgeous blue eyes.
Pepper nodded.
"Promise you're not gonna hit me. I'm gonna kiss you. Nothing crazy, just a quick brush of our lips to get over the shock in case" he said.
Pepper nodded again as she locked her eyes on his.
Tony put his hands on her face and Pepper felt her stomach do a flip. She always wanted to be kissed that way. He leaned in and Pepper tried to move her face in to meet him but she couldn't. But that didn't stop Tony. He pressed his lips against hers and held them there for approximately three seconds before pulling away.
Tony found himself unable to remove his hands from her face. Those three seconds were not enough. He wanted to kiss her again and he knew he couldn't.
Just tell her how you feel about her Stark. Tell her you want to be in a relationship with her. Say something or remove your hands he thought. He was tormenting himself.
"So I think we covered everything as far as the physical stuff is concerned. Just please be mindful that we're sharing a room. Don't leave a mess in the bathroom and please don't walk around naked. Stuff like that" she said quietly.
"I don't have any restrictions or boundaries. I am offering myself up to you for whatever your needs may be. Whether they are social, emotional, or physically. You can even show me off and use me as a piece of meat if you want. For you I'm free Pep" he teased.
"Don't get your hopes up" she teased back.
"I'm a guy. My hopes are always up" he teased as they walked back to the car.
"Oh one more thing" she asked.
"Anything. You name it" he said as his chocolate eyes bore into hers.
"Can we not have any drunken scenes?"
"Of course not Pep. I'm here for you" he said as he turned the key in the ignition.
"Oh and if you want to hook up with anyone can you be discreet and do it in a different room"
"I don't want to hook up with anyone like that anymore. You don't have to worry about that" he said.
"I wasn't worried. I was just going to ask that you don't do it in our bed" she said cooly.
"I would never pick someone up on a date with you. My attention will be on you" he said as he turned to look at her.
"It's only 10:00 p.m. Where to?" he said.
"I have to go back to get my car. Why don't you take me to my car and come over? I wanna get these heels off and have some coffee" she suggested.
"Yeah that's great" he said.
Peppers phone went off. It was Julia.
"Hello," Pepper said but it was hard to hear. Julia was shouting into the phone over lots of laughing and music in the background.
"Where are you?" Pepper asked.
"I'm at the Reserve Room. My son is with his dad for the weekend so I'm you have got to come here. There are delicious men on the prowl and I'm looking to get lucky" she yelled.
"You're there by yourself?" Pepper asked.
"I won't be, when you get here" she yelled.
"I'm with Tony right now. We just left Catch" Pepper said trying to be loud enough for Julia to hear.
"So bring him. See you soon" Julia said as she hung up.
"If you want to go out with whoever Julia is, be my guest. I won't be offended"
"She told me to bring you. She's at the Reserve Room. I'd be up for it if you are and we can have the coffee at my place after" Pepper said.
Tony preferred the quiet time with Pepper over anything else now that he wasn't drinking the way he used to and going after women but there was no way he was going to let her out of his site where tons of men could hit on her.
"Let's do it," he said.
After half an hour they arrived at the Reserve Room and the music was bumping. She surveyed the room until she spotted Julia and they made their way over to them.
"Hey hoe" Julia said to Pepper when they approached.
Pepper just smiled as she hugged her. It was obvious that she was already a few drinks in.
"Julia this is Tony. Tony, this is Julia" she said.
"Very nice," Julia said as she draped herself over him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you" Tony said as he hugged her back.
"Ginny tells us you're a very exciting man to work for" she said as she sipped her drink and she was shamelessly flirting.
"Does she?" he said, shooting an eyebrow at Pepper.
"What I said was that my job is very exciting," Pepper corrected her.
Julia just shrugged and then some guy pulled her away to dance.
"Ok you've never mentioned Julia before" Tony pointed out.
"She's one of the old friends I connected with last night. There was a group of four of us and we were really good friends and then I pulled away and I disappeared" Pepper explained.
"That doesn't sound like you," Tony pressed.
"Well it was after my parents died. I had a tough time. You know what that's like" she said quietly as she looked away from him.
"Of course" Tony said as he put his hands over hers and she felt the heat spread up her arms and she was back in the parking lot with him and feeling his hands on her waist and his lips on hers.
"I'd like a drink," she said.
"I will get us drinks," he said as he disappeared.
Julia hurried back to the table to talk to Pepper.
"You should come with me and meet Joey and his friend Dennis who has his eye on you" Julie said dragging Pepper along while she protested.
"Julia I can't just leave Tony" she protested.
"Just come and say hello and see if you like him then you can go back to Tony if you want" she insisted.
Pepper smiled awkwardly as her friend made introductions and left her with Dennis.
"Hi," Pepper said awkwardly.
Although the man was handsome there was no way she was going home with him. That was a complete no no in Pepper's book. Pepper didn't mind sex being casual but there was no way she was sleeping with someone she didn't know.
"So Ginny I guess now I know your real name. I usually see you on the tv as the famous Pepper Potts" he said.
"Yeah only like three people actually call me Pepper" she said.
"You're much cuter in person. Can I get you a drink?" he asked.
Pepper wanted to roll her eyes but she smiled politely.
"Actually I have a drink coming to me. I'm here with a friend" she said looking around awkwardly for Tony.
"There you are. Here's your drink" Tony said handing her a vodka martini with three olives.
He placed a hand on her lower back protectively.
"Thank you Tony. This is Dennis. Dennis this is-
"Tony Stark" Dennis said as he extended his hand.
Tony took it but didn't say a word. The three of them stood there awkwardly for a minute. And then Pepper spoke.
"Can you do me a favor and check on Julia?" Pepper said to Tony hoping he could read her look.
"Sure," Tony said, understanding that she wanted him to leave so she could break away from this guy politely.
Pepper turned to Dennis and he got closer to her.
"We should dance," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him roughly.
"You need to take your hands off me," she said.
"Come on, you're here on singles night and you're telling me you don't want to hook up" he said, grabbing her again.
"I came here to see my friend. I didn't know it was singles night and I said you need to get your hands off of me" she said trying to free herself.
She looked around for Julia or for Tony and Julia was sucking face with Joey and she couldn't find Tony either. She felt a mix of anxiety and adrenaline wash over her and she was about to act.
Tony could see from afar that this guy had his hands on Pepper and he was not happy. He was watching while he nursed his bourbon and then he realized that Pepper was not happy with the situation himself. He downed his bourbon and headed over to them.
Pepper pulled her hands away from him roughly and she pulled him down and kicked him in the balls with all her strength and he went down like a sack of potatoes.
Tony arrived just as he went down.
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Tony asked, very concerned.
"You bitch" Dennis shouted from his place on the ground.
Tony was about to go at him when Pepper put her hand up to stop him.
"He's not worth it. Let's go" Pepper said just as a drunken Julia bumped into them.
"Hey guys" she said as she leaned on Tony because she could barely stand.
"Come on baby let's go. You're coming home with me" Joey said grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
"Uh excuse me she's drunk. She isn't going anywhere with you" Tony said protectively.
"I'll take her to the car. Give me your keys" Pepper said as she grabbed Julia and they headed outside.
A few moments later Tony joined them in the parking lot. Pepper sat in the back with Julia to keep an eye on her.
"Tony I think Julia should stay with me tonight. Just go to my place" she said as Julia slid down the seat sideways and her head landed in Pepper's lap.
Tony was hurrying to Pepper's apartment and they were getting bounced around a bit in the back.
Julia tried to sit up and she felt a wave of nausea.
"I think I'm gonna be sick" she said as she leaned over and threw up on the floor behind Tony's seat.
"Oh no Tony. I'm so sorry. I will pay to get the car cleaned" Pepper said in horror as she held her friend's hair back and gently stroked her back.
Tony was going to show Pepper he was different even though he was horrified that his beautiful Audi was defiled by vomit.
"Don't worry about it Pep. Just take care of your friend" he said.
Pepper couldn't believe the words coming out of the man she worked for. Who was this person and what have they done to Tony?
They arrived at Pepper's place and Tony helped Julia as Pepper opened the door. Once inside they helped Julia into the spare bedroom and into bed.
"So what now?" Tony asked when it was just him and Pepper alone again.
"Coffee?" she asked.
"Yeah that'd be great" he said as he flopped onto the couch.
Pepper came back out a few minutes later with a mug for each of them.
"By the way you kicked ass back there. Where did you learn a move like that?" Tony asked. He was genuinely surprised .
"I took a self defense class right before I started working for S.I. It's Krav Maga, the real stuff" she said.
"Well remind me not to get on your bad side" Tony teased as he took a sip of coffee.
They put the television on and browsed the channels but nothing was catching their attention and then it wasn't too long until they both fell asleep.